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Course Guide 2023 - 445779 - 1737 - v2
Course Guide 2023 - 445779 - 1737 - v2
Yale University
A comprehensive listing of graduate level courses affiliated with the
Yale Combined Program in the Biological & Biomedical Sciences
Visit the Online Course Information system at https://courses.yale.edu/ to find course times, dates, and
locations.
CELL BIOLOGY
https://catalog.yale.edu/gsas/degree-granting-departments-programs/cell-biology/
CBIO 604b / PTB 604, Physiologic Function and Cellular Structure of Organ Systems
Introduction to the organization and function of cells within complex multicellular systems as encountered in the human
body. Covers major tissues and organs as well as the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems, with special
emphasis on the molecular and cellular bases of developmental processes and human diseases. Lectures supplemented
by electronic-based tutorials on the histology of tissues and organs.
CBIO 630b/MCDB 630b Biochemical and Biophysical Approaches in Molecular and Cellular Biology
The course offers an introduction into the biochemical and biophysical techniques used in modern cell biology
research, including spectroscopy, light microscopy, kinetics, mathematical modeling, structural biology techniques
(x-ray, electron microscopy, NMR), mass spectrometry.
*C&MP 560b/ENAS 570b/MCDB 560b/PHAR 560b, Cellular and Molecular Physiology: Molecular Machines in
Human Disease
The course focuses on understanding the processes that transfer molecules across membranes at the cellular, molecular,
biophysical, and physiological levels. Students learn about the different classes of molecular machines that mediate
membrane transport, generate electrical currents, or perform mechanical displacement. Emphasis is placed on the
relationship between the molecular structures of membrane proteins and their individual functions. The interactions
among transport proteins in determining the physiological behaviors of cells and tissues are also stressed. Molecular
motors are introduced and their mechanical relationship to cell function is explored. Students read papers from the
scientific literature that establish the connections between mutations in genes encoding membrane proteins and a wide
variety of human genetic diseases.
C&MP 600, Medical Physiology Case Conferences (open only to MD/PhD & MRSP students)
Two-term course taught in groups of ten to twelve students by the same group leader(s) throughout the year. Workshop
format permits students to apply basic concepts of physiology to clinical syndromes and disease processes. Students
are expected to participate actively in a weekly discussion of a clinical case that illustrates principles of human
physiology and pathophysiology at the whole-body, system, organ, cellular, or molecular level. Prerequisites: C&MP 550a
and permission of the instructor. Credit for full year only.
C&MP 630a/PATH 680a/PHAR 502a, Seminar in Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology
Readings and discussion on a diverse range of current topics in molecular medicine, pharmacology, and physiology. The
class emphasizes analysis of primary research literature and development of presentation and writing skills.
Contemporary articles are assigned on a related topic every week, and a student leads discussions with input from
faculty who are experts in the topic area. The overall goal is to cover a specific topic of medical relevance (e.g., cancer,
neurodegeneration) from the perspective of three primary disciplines (i.e., physiology: normal function; pathology:
abnormal function; and pharmacology: intervention).
CB&B 523b/MB&B 523b/PHYS 523b/ENAS 541b, Biological Physics (Course offered every other year).
The course has two aims: 1) to introduce students to the physics of biological systems and 2) to introduce students to
the basics of scientific computing. The course will focus on studies of a broad-range of biophysical phenomena including
diffusion, polymer statistics, protein folding, macromolecular crowding, cell motion, and tissue development using
computational tools and methods. We will provide intensive tutorials for Matlab including basic syntax, arrays, for-
loops, conditional statements, functions, plotting, and importing and exporting data.
CB&B 567/S&DS 567/MB&B 567, Topics in Deep Learning: Methods and Biomedical Applications (Course
offered every other year)
This course provides an introduction to recent developments in deep learning, covering topics ranging from basic
backpropagation, to optimization, to the latest developments in deep generative models and network robustness.
Applications in natural language processing and computer vision are used as running examples. Several case studies in
biomedical applications are covered in detail. Prerequisite: S&DS 565 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment
limited.
CB&B 647b/GENE 645b/BIS 645b, Statistical Methods in Human Genetics (Course offered every other year)
Probability modeling and statistical methodology for the analysis of human genetics data are presented. Topics include
population genetics, single locus and polygenic inheritance, linkage analysis, quantitative trait analysis, association
analysis, haplotype analysis, population structure, whole genome genotyping platforms, copy number variation,
pathway analysis, and genetic risk prediction models.
CB&B 663b, Deep Learning Theory and Applications (Course offered every other year)
Deep neural networks have gained immense popularity within the past decade due to their success in many important
machine-learning tasks such as image recognition, speech recognition, and natural language processing. This course
provides a principled and hands-on approach to deep learning with neural networks. Students master the principles
and practices underlying neural networks, including modern methods of deep learning, and apply deep learning
methods to real-world problems including image recognition, natural language processing, and biomedical applications.
Course work includes homework, a final exam, and a final project—either group or individual, depending on
enrollment—with both a written and oral (i.e., presentation) component. The course assumes basic prior knowledge in
linear algebra and probability. Prerequisites: CPSC 202 and knowledge of Python programming.
CB&B 745b/AMTH 745b/CPSC 745b, Advanced Topics in Machine Learning and Data Mining (Course offered
every other year)
An overview of advances in the past decade in machine learning and automatic datamining approaches for dealing with
the broad scope of modern data-analysis challenges, including deep learning, kernel methods, dictionary learning, and
bag of words/features.
This year, the focus is on a broad scope of biomedical data-analysis tasks, such as single cell RNA sequencing, single-cell
signaling and proteomic analysis, health care assessment, and medical diagnosis and treatment recommendations. The
seminar is based on student presentations and discussions of recent prominent publications from leading journals and
conferences in the field. Prerequisite: basic concepts in data analysis (e.g., CPSC 545 or 563) or permission of the
instructor.
PATH 679a/680ab/C&MP 630a/PHAR 502a, Seminar in Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology
Readings and discussion on a diverse range of current topics in molecular medicine, pharmacology, and physiology. The
class emphasizes analysis of primary research literature and development of presentation and writing skills.
Contemporary articles are assigned on a related topic every week, and a student lead discussion with input from faculty
who are experts in the topic area. The overall goal is to cover a specific topic of medical relevance (e.g., cancer,
neurodegeneration) from the perspective of three primary disciplines (i.e., physiology: normal function; pathology:
abnormal function; and pharmacology: intervention).
Yale BBS Course Guide 9
PATH 681a/BBS 681a, Advanced Topics in Cancer Biology
This advanced graduate level course focuses on readings and discussion on three to four major topics in cancer biology,
such as targeted therapy, tumor immunology, tumor metabolism, and genomic evolution of cancer. For each topic, the
class starts with an interactive lecture, followed by critical analysis of primary research literature. Recent research
articles are assigned on these topics, and a student lead discussion with input from faculty who are experts in the topic
area. Pre-requisites: PATH 650b or at the discretion of the instructor.
GENE 675 and 676, Graduate Student Seminar: Critical Analysis and Presentation of Scientific Literature
Students gain experience in preparing and delivering seminars and in discussing presentations by other students. A
variety of topics in molecular, cellular, developmental, and population genetics are covered. Required for all second-year
students in Genetics. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
Two Advanced Immunobiology seminar courses (choose from IBIO 532, 536, 537, 538, 539)
Seminar courses are typically available every Fall and every other Spring. First seminar must be taken for a grade. If the
student has completed six courses, then the seventh class (seminar) can be audited.
INP 510, Structural and Functional Organization of the Human Nervous System
An integrative overview of the structure and function of the human brain as it pertains to major neurological and psychiatric
disorders. Neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and clinical correlations are interrelated to provide essential background in the
neurosciences. Lectures in neurocytology and neuroanatomy survey neuronal organization in the human brain, with emphasis
on long fiber tracts related to clinical neurology. Lectures in neurophysiology cover various aspects of neural function at the
cellular and systems levels, with a strong emphasis on the mammalian nervous system. Clinical correlations consist of sessions
applying basic science principles to understanding pathophysiology in the context of patients. Seven three-hour laboratory
sessions are coordinated with lectures throughout the course to provide an understanding of the structural basis of function and
disease. Case-based conference sections provide an opportunity to integrate and apply the information learned about the
structure and function of the nervous system in the rest of the course to solving a focused clinical problem in a journal club
format. Variable class schedule; contact course instructors.
INP 554 Human Molecular Diversity in the Context of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Behavioral Traits
This course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of human molecular diversity and its
implications with respect to the study of neuropsychiatric disorders and behavioral traits. Every class will be organized
around the discussion of recent articles published in the primary literature. Initially, the discussion will focus on basic
concepts related to variability between individuals, within a population, and between populations across different
omics domains including genetics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, and proteomics. Two aspects will be also thoroughly
discussed: i) the definitions of ancestry, race, and ethnicity and how they should be considered when designing a
molecular study and ii) the systematic underrepresentation of certain minorities in human molecular studies and its
consequences. Subsequently, the classes will focus on different aspects related to the modeling of human molecular
variation to investigate the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders and their comorbidities with behavioral traits.
These will include the discussion of different study designs (e.g., case-control and case-only), the approaches needed to
account for potential biases (e.g., population stratification), statistical power, effect sizes across different omics
domains, and causal inference.
The following is a new course that does not yet have a number assigned:
Enrollment limited to 9 students. Class will meet on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays (2 hours) will consist of seminars,
critique sessions, progress updates and discussion (see below for details). Weekly studio time will be on Friday (2
hours).
MBIO 601/IBIO 601/ CBB 601, Fundamentals of Research: Responsible Conduct of Research
A weekly seminar presented by faculty trainers on topics relating to proper conduct of research. Required of first year
Immunobiology students, first-year CB&B students, and training grant-funded postdocs. (Spring)
MB&B 330 / CB&B 561 / MCDB 330 / NSCI 324 Modeling Biological Systems I
Study of the analytic and computational skills needed to model genetic networks and protein signaling pathways.
Review of basic biochemical concepts including chemical reactions, ligand binding to receptors, cooperativity, and
Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. Deep exploration of biological systems including kinetics of RNA and protein
synthesis and degradation; transcription activators and repressors; lyosogeny/lysis switch of lambda phage and the
roles of cooperativity and feedback; network motifs such as feed-forward networks and how they shape response
dynamics; cell signaling, MAP kinase networks and cell fate decisions; bacterial chemotaxis; and noise in gene
expression and phenotypic variability. Students learn to model using MatLab in a series of in-class hackathons that
illustrate biological examples discussed in lectures.
MB&B 517b / ENAS 517b / MCDB 517b / PHYS 517b, Methods and Logic in Interdisciplinary Research
This half-term PEB class is intended to introduce students to integrated approaches to research. Each week, the first of
two sessions is student-led, while the second session is led by faculty with complementary expertise and discusses
papers that use different approaches to the same topic (for example, physical and biological or experiment and theory).
Counts as 0.5 credit toward MB&B graduate course requirements. ½ Course cr; Required for students in IGPPEB.
MB&B 523b / CB&B 523b / ENAS 541b / PHYS 523b, Biological Physics
The course has two aims: (1) to introduce students to the physics of biological systems and (2) to introduce students to
the basics of scientific computing. The course focuses on studies of a broad range of biophysical phenomena including
diffusion, polymer statistics, protein folding, macromolecular crowding, cell motion, and tissue development using
computational tools and methods. Intensive tutorials are provided for MATLAB including basic syntax, arrays, for-loops,
conditional statements, functions, plotting, and importing and exporting data.
MB&B 562b /AMTH 562b/ CB&B 562b /MCDB 562b/PHYS 562b, Modeling Biological Systems II
This course covers advanced topics in computational biology. How do cells compute, how do they count and tell time,
how do they oscillate and generate spatial patterns? Topics include time-dependent dynamics in regulatory, signal-
transduction, and neuronal networks; fluctuations, growth, and form; mechanics of cell shape and motion; spatially
heterogeneous processes; diffusion. This year, the course spends roughly half its time on mechanical systems at the
cellular and tissue level, and half on models of neurons and neural systems in computational neuroscience.
MB&B 591a / ENAS 991a / MCDB 591a / PHYS 991a, Integrated Workshop
This required course for students in the PEB graduate program involves a series of modules, co-taught by faculty, in
which students from different academic backgrounds and research skills collaborate on projects at the interface of
physics, engineering, and biology. The modules cover a broad range of PEB research areas and skills. The course starts
with an introduction to MATLAB, which is used throughout the course for analysis, simulations, and modeling.
MB&B 625a / GENE 625a / MCDB 625a, Basic Concepts of Genetic Analysis
The universal principles of genetic analysis in eukaryotes are discussed in lectures. Students also read a small selection
of primary papers illustrating the very best of genetic analysis and dissect them in detail in the discussion sections.
While other Yale graduate molecular genetics courses emphasize molecular biology, this course focuses on the concepts
and logic underlying modern genetic analysis.
MB&B 630b / MCDB 630b, Biochemical and Biophysical Approaches in Molecular and Cellular Biology
This course introduces the theory and application of biochemical and biophysical methods to study the structure and
function of biological macromolecules. The course considers the basic physical chemistry required in cellular and
molecular biology but does not require a previous course in physical chemistry. One class per week is a lecture
introducing a topic. The second class is a discussion of one or two research papers utilizing those methods. Does not
count for graduate course credit for BQBS graduate students.
MB&B 650a and 651b, Lab Rotation for BQBS First-Year Students
Required of all first-year BQBS graduate students. Credit for full year only.
MB&B 734b / GENE 734b / MBIO 734b, Molecular Biology of Animal Viruses
Lecture course with emphasis on mechanisms of viral replication, oncogenic transformation, and virus-host cell
interactions.
MB&B 743b / GENE 743b / MCDB 743b, Advanced Eukaryotic Molecular Biology
Selected topics in transcriptional control, regulation of chromatin structure, mRNA processing, mRNA stability, RNA
interference, translation, protein degradation, DNA replication, DNA repair, site-specific DNA recombination, somatic
hypermutation. Prerequisite: biochemistry or permission of the instructor.
MCDB 330 / CB&B 561 / MB&B 330 / NSCI 324 Modeling Biological Systems I
Study of the analytic and computational skills needed to model genetic networks and protein signaling pathways.
Review of basic biochemical concepts including chemical reactions, ligand binding to receptors, cooperativity, and
Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. Deep exploration of biological systems including kinetics of RNA and protein
synthesis and degradation; transcription activators and repressors; lysogeny/lysis switch of lambda phage and the
roles of cooperativity and feedback; network motifs such as feed-forward networks and how they shape response
dynamics; cell signaling, MAP kinase networks and cell fate decisions; bacterial chemotaxis; and noise in gene
expression and phenotypic variability. Students learn to model using MatLab in a series of in-class hackathons that
illustrate biological examples discussed in lectures.
MCDB 517b/ENAS 517b/MB&B 517b/PHYS 517b, Methods and Logic in Interdisciplinary Research
This half-term IGPPEB class is intended to introduce students to integrated approaches to research. Each session is led
by faculty with complementary expertise and discusses papers that use different approaches to the same topic (for
example, physical and biological or experiment and theory). Counts as 0.5 credit toward graduate course requirements.
Required for students in IGPPEB.
MCDB 562 / MCDB 361 /BENG 465 / MB&B 562 / AMTH 765/ CB&B 562 / INP 562 / PHYS 562 / ENAS 561
Modeling Biological Systems II
This course covers advanced topics in computational biology. How do cells compute, how do they count and tell time,
how do they oscillate and generate spatial patterns? Topics include time-dependent dynamics in regulatory, signal-
transduction, and neuronal networks; fluctuations, growth, and form; mechanics of cell shape and motion; spatially
heterogeneous processes; diffusion. This year, the course spends roughly half its time on mechanical systems at the
cellular and tissue level, and half on models of neurons and neural systems in computational neuroscience.
MCDB 630b/MB&B 630b, Biochemical and Biophysical Approaches in Molecular and Cellular Biology
This course introduces the theory and application of biochemical and biophysical methods to study the structure and
function of biological macromolecules. The course considers the basic physical chemistry required in cellular and
molecular biology but does not require a previous course in physical chemistry. One class per week is a lecture
introducing a topic. The second class is a discussion of one or two research papers utilizing those methods. Does not
count for graduate course credit for BBSB graduate students.
MCDB 752b/MB&B 752b/CBB752b/CPSC 752b, Biomedical Data Science: Mining and Modeling
Biomedical data science encompasses the analysis of gene sequences, macromolecular structures, and functional
genomics data on a large scale. It represents a major practical application for modern techniques in data mining and
simulation. Specific topics to be covered include sequence alignment, large-scale processing, next-generation
sequencing data, comparative genomics, phylogenetics, biological database design, geometric analysis of protein
structure, molecular-dynamics simulation, biological networks, normalization of microarray data, mining of functional
genomics data sets, and machine-learning approaches to data integration. Prerequisites: biochemistry and calculus, or
permission of the instructor.
PHAR 502a/C&MP 630a/PATH 680a, Seminar in Molecular Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology
Readings and discussion on a diverse range of current topics in molecular medicine, pharmacology, and physiology. The
class emphasizes analysis of primary research literature and development of presentation and writing skills.
Contemporary articles are assigned on a related topic every week, and a student lead discussion with input from faculty
who are experts in the topic area. The overall goal is to cover a specific topic of medical relevance (e.g., cancer,
neurodegeneration) from the perspective of three primary disciplines (i.e., physiology: normal function; pathology:
abnormal function; and pharmacology: intervention).
PHAR 560b/C&MP 560b/ENAS 570b/MCDB 560b, Cellular and Molecular Physiology: Molecular Machines in
Human Disease
The course focuses on understanding the processes that transfer molecules across membranes at the cellular, molecular,
biophysical, and physiological levels. Students learn about the different classes of molecular machines that mediate
membrane transport, generate electrical currents, or perform mechanical displacement. Emphasis is placed on the
relationship between the molecular structures of membrane proteins and their individual functions. The interactions
among transport proteins in determining the physiological behaviors of cells and tissues are also stressed. Molecular
motors are introduced and their mechanical relationship to cell function is explored. Students read papers from the
scientific literature that establish the connections between mutations in genes encoding membrane proteins and a wide
variety of human genetic diseases.
PTB 604 / CBIO 604b, Physiologic Function and Cellular Structure of Organ Systems
Introduction to the organization and function of cells within complex multicellular systems as encountered in the human
body. Covers major tissues and organs as well as the cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems, with special
emphasis on the molecular and cellular bases of developmental processes and human diseases. Lectures supplemented
by electronic-based tutorials on the histology of tissues and organs.
PTB 605b, Grantsmanship and preparing training award applications (offered Spring 2024)
This course is designed to further refine an existing draft of a research and training proposal in the structure of an
NIH F31 application in preparation for submission. In addition to providing peer and mentored feedback on the
scientific proposal, this course will focus on the preparations of other materials required for the F31 application,
including development of a statement of training goals. While student’s ineligible (or not intending) to apply for an
F31 are welcome to participate (and indeed transferable skills in scientific writing and goal setting will benefit all
PhD students), the course will be structured to prepare an F31 application for the April F31 deadline.